Rockin’ Country Church
The Rockin’ Country Church has moved. Its new location is 737 North Seven Points Blvd. in Seven Points (S.H. 274). Sunday service starts at 10 a.m. Bring a camping chair and a friend. For more information, please call Pastor Woody at (214) 418-8996.

Girl Scout Recruitment
Girl Scout Recruitment date, time and locations are as follows:
• Kaufman area recruitment at Kaufman County Library from 6-8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 19.
• Kemp area recruitment will be held at Kemp First United Methodist Church at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22.
• Crandall area recruitment will be held at First United Methodist Church at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23.

Square Dance Lessons
Square dance lessons will be taught by the Log Cabin Square Dance Club start from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and continue each Monday at the Promenade Hall at 1210 North Tool Drive on Highway 274 in Tool. First and second lessons are free. Come check us out for fun, fitness and fellowship. For more information, call Faye at (903) 340-9672.

Rootseekers Genealogical Society
Rootseekers Genealogical Society will hold their next meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 19 at the Tri-County Library in downtown Mabank. The guest speaker will be Harry Erb.

Kemp Crime Watch
The Kemp Crime Watch will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20 at the Kemp City Hall. All Kemp residents are welcome. For information call (903) 498-3191.

CCL Women’s Club Meeting
The Cedar Creek Lake Women’s Club Executive Board will meet at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20, at The Library at Cedar Creek Lake.

Mabank Garden Club
The first meeting of the Mabank Garden Club for the new year 2011-12 has been set for 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20 at The Tri-County Library in Mabank. The program will be “Colonial Beauties, Modern Monsters.” The club is open to all women of the community. For information, call (903) 451-4016.

Sarah Maples Chapter of DAR Meeting
The Sarah Maples Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will meet at the Cedar Creek United Methodist Church in Tool at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21. The speaker will be retired Dean of the TVCC Palestine campus Charles Akin.

Register to vote
Gun Barrel City residents can register to vote at Brawner Hall 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 22 and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23. For more information, call Carroll Strickland (214) 499-3100.

Free Health Seminar
A free health seminar on female heart disease will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, in the community room at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Kaufman. For more information or to register for the free event, call 1-877-THR-WELL.

Iris Society Sale
The Fort Worth Iris Society Iris Sale will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24 at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden Center. The Garden Center is located at 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd. in Fort Worth. The event is free.

Four Mile Lutheran Church Sale
Four Mile Lutheran Women of ELCA will hold their annual yard and bake sale Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 22-24. The sale will end at noon on Saturday. The sale will be located at Four Mile Lutheran Church in the Prairieville Community, two miles east of the Prairieville Store at Hwy. 90 and VZ CR 2607. For more information, call (903) 887-0833 or (903) 385-0017.

Casino Night for Cancer
Casino Night for Cancer will be hosted by the American Legion Auxiliary in Gun Barrel City for Friday, Sept. 23. Hot Dog Bar will open at 5 p.m. Various casino games will be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with an auction starting at 9 p.m. Proceeds will go to Children’s Oncology, Bridge Breast Center and Cancer Research.

Bluegill Family Fishing Tournament
Join the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (TFFC) in Athens for a fun-filled day of trying to catch the biggest Bluegill. Fish can be caught at TFFC or on Lake Athens. The tournament awards prizes for the heaviest stringers of sunfish, but the event is really about adults and children having fun fishing together. The event will start from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24 at the TFFC. Family teams are welcome. Call (903) 670-2266 for details or to pre-register.

Cedar Creek Clean-up
The 13th annual Cedar Creek Clean-up will be held Saturday, Sept. 24 at CR 4023 of Hwy. 274 South. Registration starts at 9 a.m. and volunteers will clean until 11 a.m. T-shirts will be provided. Post clean-up party will be held at Tom Finley Park in Gun Barrel City.

Do you doubt your Salvation?
There are many Christians who privately struggle with doubts about their salvation. If you are struggling, there is help for you at www.knowimsaved.com.  This is a ministry of Central Baptist Church in Mabank.

CCL Women’s Club
The Cedar Creek Lake Women’s Club will meet at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27 at the Cedar Creek Lake Country Club in Kemp. Doors will open at 10 a.m. Judith Dyer will present the program on “Customs of Dinner.”

Avanti Singers
The Avanti Singers will begin their new season at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, in the choir room of the First United Methodist Church in Mabank. An invitation is open for those interested in musical entertainment and fellowship with other singers. Contact Jean Robinson at (903) 451-3203 for booking a program or joining.

Save the Date
Resource Conference
The Njoy Foundation has secured top speakers to attend the Resource Conference that relate to different disabilities. The conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Lockheed Martin Recreation Association Clubhouse, located at 3400 Bryant Irving Road in Fort Worth.
For information, call (817) 917-2631.

October Fest 2011
Mary Queen of Heaven Catholic Church will sponsor an October Fest from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2 at the Malakoff Community Center, 503 N. Terry Street. Chicken dinners will be available for dining in or take out with prepaid ticket. There will be music, entertainment, donkey rides, a cake walk, silent auction, games, bounce houses and a fishing booth. Call (903) 489-2366 for information.

Model Railroad Show
The 29th annual Model Railroad Show will be held Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 8-9. at the LMRA facility at 3400 Bryant Irvin Road in southwest Fort Worth. The show will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Visitors will see modular model railroad displays of various scales, tour the LMRA club’s 1200 square foot HO-scale model railroad layout that is 90 percent complete. For information, call (817) 732-7731.

‘Bookworms’
Tri-County Library now has a book club. The “bookworms” will meet on the second Friday of each month beginning Friday, Oct. 14. The club will meet at 10 a.m. in the Community Room.
Refreshments will be served and there are no membership fees.
For more information, call Madelyn Healey at (903) 880-3699.

AARP Driver Safety Course
A one-day AARP Driver Safety Program will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13 at The Library at Cedar Creek Lake in Seven Points.
The refresher course is designed for drivers age 50 and over, but is open to anyone. For more information, call Jean Dirks at (903) 887-3836.

Cotton Row Run 5K Run/Walk
The Cotton Row Run 5K Run/Walk will start at 8 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 15 in Kerens. Registration will start at 7 a.m. Please register by Saturday, Oct. 1.
For more information, please call (903) 872-6045 or visit www.kerens.com. 
 

County’s finances strengthened
Net revenue increases $4M; cash-on-hand at $3M
By Susan Harrison
Monitor Staff Writer
KAUFMAN–It’s been a tough year for Kaufman County department heads, commissioners and judge, however belt-tightening measures have paid off.
“We should have our head above water at the end of the fiscal year (Sept. 30, 2011),” Kaufman County Judge Bruce Wood said of the net revenue increase of $4 million for the first 11 months of the fiscal year.
Wood presented comparison figures to commissioners during a night meeting Sept. 12.
Revenue increased by $1,364,010 from 2010 to 2011 and expenses decreased $2,720,348 for the net increase of $4 million.
“We have three payrolls in September, so we’ll have to see how we end up,” Wood said.
Delinquent tax collector attorney Jeff Brown reported that Kaufman County Justice of the Peace collections for the four county precincts are $1,748,814.41 for the first 11 months for the fiscal year.
“This is an increase of $554,505.68 from the same period last year,” Brown explained.
“JPs and constables are doing what they said they were going to do when they were elected. I am very proud of them,” Brown added.
The court heard from Kaufman County’s Children’s Shelter director LaReta Williams that the shelter’s numbers have been up since April and May.
“We are hearing more from some counties that we have not heard from in a long time,” Williams explained since the funding for family subsidies have been stopped.
“CPS (Child Protective Services) says that there is a severe shortage of foster homes. Foster homes are requesting children by ages more than by family groups,” Williams said.
There are children with physical disabilities that foster homes do not want, Williams said and the shelter has been denied licensing for housing those with disabilities.
“I think we can meet most of the non-compliant issues without a lot of money,” Williams explained when she told the commissioners that she may call on them to send manpower to do the work.
Williams told the court that Wendy Thomas, of Tomas Protective Services, joined the board, but that there are still four open board member positions.
County treasurer Johnny Countryman told the court he is up $3 million in the bank as of Aug. 31, whereas he was down $1 million this time last year.
“I do not think we need to talk to the bank for a loan like we did last year,” Countryman said also noting that there are three payrolls in September.
The court voted to accept the county’s 2011 appraised property values of $8,699,857,948 and 2011 taxable values of $5,846,040,592 for non-road and bridge and $5,845,632,752 for road and bridge.
“I ran this by the judges,” Wood said when he told the commissioners that the state reduced the jury duty reimbursement pay by $6.
The court voted to pay $6 for the first day of jury duty and $34 per day after the first day beginning Oct. 1.
The current pay is $40 per day after the first day.
Wood also reported the county received a letter from Texas Department of Transportation that federal funding had been approved for repairs to various bridges throughout the county.
Kaufman County’s representative to the Texas Indigent Health Care Association Desiree Pool asked for her resolution to join the association be pulled from the consent agenda items.
“I was at a conference last week and today (Sept. 12) was very busy for me and this will give me time to get information together for you,” Pool explained as the court agreed to her request.
In other business, commissioners:
• accepted Kaufman County Emergency Services District #5 Financial Statement Report.
• appointed Ed Farow as supervisor and director of Kaufman County Levee Improvement District No. 6 to replace Eugene B. Smith, Jr.
• accepted Kaufman County Emergency Service District No. 2 Financial Statement.
• paid bills totaling $1,306,550.65.
 

Optimist Club wears a frown
Terminates lease with city on park
By Erik Walsh
Contributing writer
SEVEN POINTS–A 20-year chapter in the history of Seven Points is coming to an end this month.
The Optimist Club is giving up its care of the city park, where baseball fields have been named after a longtime city judge, where families have held reunions and parties and where toddlers have had a safe and inviting place to play.
These are the facilities The Optimist Club have maintained and made improvements to over the years for the youth of the community.
Danny Hampel, a representative from the Cedar Creek Optimist Club, announced to the city council Sept. 8 that the Optimist Club is “terminating its lease with the City of Seven Points for the use of the park and civic center.”
The letter Hampel read stated the club does not “have the funds available to continue this community service.”
The mood of the council room was one of disappointment as Hampel read the letter.
Hampel told The Monitor that since the opening of the electronic bingo parlor in Gun Barrel City and the ultimate closing of the bingo hall in Seven Points, from which the club derived the majority of its funding, keeping up with expenses at the park had become impossible.
In year’s past, The Optimist Club has also made substantial contributions to the students of Tool Elementary.
The terminated lease will be signed over to the City of Seven Points.